Global Voices Online » Finland

The Baltics: Deportations of 1941 and 1949

Veronica Khokhlova — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:43:41 +0000

Eric Dickens guest-blogs at A Step At A Time about the Baltic deportations of 1941 and 1949.

Europe: Entropa

Veronica Khokhlova — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:06:39 +0000

Belatedly, links to some posts on Entropa: Margarete of The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia believes “it should be taken down”; Kosmopolito thinks that “the debate around the project is also part of the installation”; BBC's Mark Mardell writes that “the fact that it is a hoax does not mean that the art itself is bad”; Blue, Black and White Alert doesn't think Entropa is “that incendiary”; A Fistful of Euros considers Entropa “an ugly but really funny piece of work.”

Palestine: UN School Hit By Israeli Shells; More than 40 Killed

Jillian C. York — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:44:28 +0000

At approximately 6:00 p.m. (GMT+2), Al Jazeera English reported that a UN school was hit when two tank shells exploded outside of the school. The school, located in Jabaliya, had been set up days ago as a shelter for Gaza residents who had lost or evacuated their homes. According to Al Jazeera English, more than 40 people were killed. On Al Jazeera English's television station (accessible globally via Livestation.com), it was reported that the IDF had been given GPS coordinates to all UN schools.

The Philistine reported quickly on the incident:

Medical officials say the death toll from an Israeli airstrike outside a United Nations school in the Gaza Strip has risen to 30.

The attack occurred about 10 yards (meters) outside the school in northern Gaza. It was the second deadly Israeli attack to strike a UN school in the past few hours.

Hospital director Bassam Abu Warda confirmed the 30 deaths from the second airstrike.

In both cases, the schools had been used as shelters for people displaced by Israel’s offensive

A top U.N. humanitarian official has condemned the violence and demanded an investigation.

Israel isn’t commenting.

Syria News Wire also reported quickly, stating:

40 people have now died after Israel’s bombing of a UN school in Gaza. 400 Palestinians were being given shelter there by the UN.

Twitter user dominiccampbell, from London, reacted strongly to the news as well:

Finnish Twitter user haloefekti expresses shock at the lack of outcry:

Estonia, Finland, Russia: Relationship Now and Then

Veronica Khokhlova — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:35:49 +0000

A Step At A Time writes in depth about the relationship between Finland, Estonia, and Russia - now and in the past.

Slovenia: Janez Janša and Magnus Berglund

Veronica Khokhlova — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:37:11 +0000

Borut Peterlin thinks that Finnish journalist Magnus Berglund should be awarded “a Slovenian national medal of honor” for making public PM Janez Janša's graft allegations. There's even a Facebook group (with 662 members so far) devoted to Berglund and the story he broke.

Finnish voice on death of Ingushetian publisher

Vilhelm Konnander — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:42:42 +0000

Istori posts a speech by and publishes a statement about the Ingushetian publisher Magomed Yevloev, who was killed by Russian police in the weekend. Together with Anna Politkovskaya, Yevloev - the publisher of closed-down news site ingushetiya.ru - was a frequent guest at the Finnish-Russian Civic Forum.

Russia, Georgia, EU: Will There Be No Sanctions?

Veronica Khokhlova — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:45:17 +0000

BBC's Mark Mardell reports from the emergency EU summit in Brussels that “it seems all but decided that there will no sanctions against Russia.”

Russia, Finland: Maria Kirbasova's Case

Veronica Khokhlova — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:40:30 +0000

A Step At A Time and Vera's Log report on the Finnish Immigration Service's decision to deport Maria Kirbasova, a half-paralyzed 67-year-old Russian citizen, who was one of the founders of Soldiers' Mothers organization.

Estonia: Finnish Muslims; Childhood Memories

Veronica Khokhlova — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:26:27 +0000

AnTyx writes about the Finnish Muslim Party's protest against Estonia's presence in Iraq - and shares a few Soviet/post-Soviet childhood memories.

Estonia, Finland: Police

Veronica Khokhlova — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:43:30 +0000

Itching for Eestimaa reports that “Estonia is considering hiring 300 unemployed Finnish police officers to handle its internal shortage of police.”

Japan: Filtering going global

Chris Salzberg — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:48:46 +0000

Blogger and social activist Sakiyama Nobuo [ja] (see earlier coverage) picks up a number of recent news stories and predicts that it may not be long before Chinese filtering policy is no longer thought of as “another country's problem” [ja]. He points to the launch of the Mobile Alliance against Child Sexual Abuse Content, which he argues could put sites on a blacklist simply because they are “illegal” according to national laws, and points to a case in Finland where something similar has already happened.

Armenia: Scandinavian Invasion

Onnik Krikorian — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 20:15:43 +0000

Armenia and me posts an account and photographs of what is a rare sight indeed — 150 Scandinavian running through Yerevan's Victory Park as part of a World Wide Orienteering Promotion. Arriving in the country from Iran, the blog reports that local onlookers were at first shocked to see so many foreigners racing through a public space, but soon warmed to the idea. “The concept of tall blond Scandinavians in tights seemed to be quite attractive,” concludes Trygveu.

Russia, Finland: Sale of Karelia

Veronica Khokhlova — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 19:43:06 +0000

Vilhelm Konnander writes on how Boris Yeltsin had nearly sold Karelia to Finland.

Estonia: International Relations

Veronica Khokhlova — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 19:51:14 +0000

“But why waste so much energy on that relationship with diminishing returns?” writes Itching for Eestimaa about Estonia's relations with Russia, and continues with an overview of Estonia's relations with other countries.

Europe: “Baltic” and “Nordic”

Veronica Khokhlova — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 12:05:10 +0000

Itching for Eestimaa browses through the Time Magazine archives “to discover how those two loaded terms, Baltic and Nordic, were used in the 1920s and 1930s.”